- Mercedes test row
Montezemolo hopes FIA prosecutes Mercedes
Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo is hoping the FIA's International Tribunal will prosecute Mercedes for its private test with Pirelli in order to maintain a level of "professionalism" in Formula One.
After conducting a test with a 2013 car last month, Mercedes and Pirelli will face charges in front of the International Tribunal on June 20 and could face serious punishments. Ferrari was one of the teams that protested the test, believing it was in breach of the Sporting Regulations, and Montezemolo has now gone on the record saying he hopes Mercedes is prosecuted.
"We have faith in the FIA," he told Ferrari's website. "I do not wish to comment, but I note with satisfaction that the Federation is following this incident well. Let's hope Formula One can maintain its professionalism and we have faith that those who attempt to circumvent the regulations are pursued and prosecuted, or rather more prosecuted than pursued."
Talking about Ferrari's championship challenge, Montezemolo said the team knows what it has to do to catch Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel.
"As for us, we know exactly what we must do to win," continued Montezemolo. "Between today and tomorrow, I will hold a long and detailed meeting with [team principal Stefano] Domenicali and all the engineers: they know what we must do to improve and I am convinced that right to the very last race, Ferrari will be competitive and a contender, that we will not give up and that we have all the elements in place to improve.
"A super-Saturday? Yes, but even just a normal one would do: it would be enough to see a car capable of getting comfortably onto the first two rows of the grid, not necessarily on pole, because from there, we can win the race. On Sunday, we saw [Fernando] Alonso produce another amazing race, with Ferrari running as a contender. We can but hope that in future, it might be a bit hotter on the race weekends…"